The “Mother House” in San Fernando Valley

For Guy Weddington-McCreary, preserving the history of the San Fernando Valley is as important as his last name was to its development. His family was one of the first to settle what is now North Hollywood, and over the decades amaased a collection of documents detailing the area’s history. Much of that is now in the care of California State University, Northridge. Weddington-McCreary gave his family’s large collection of historical photos, files and paperwork to store in CSUN’s archive.

However, one piece of Valley history that can’t be housed in Northridge is an actual house—the ‘mother house’ of North Hollywood. For over a century, it has stood in three different locations in the heart of what is now the NoHo Arts District. Currently empty, boarded up and surrounded by three fences, it is waiting to be moved for a fourth time. Concerned about a proposal to tear down the house for the development of a shopping center, Weddington-McCreary stepped in. He didn’t want a piece of the Valley to be destroyed. He wanted to give it back to the community.

“We learned a few years ago that developers were taking over all the property there and there was the threat that (the house) would get knocked down,” Weddington-McCreary said. “I didn’t want to see that happen, so I said, ‘Here we have a house that’d we’d like to see become something for the community, that they could meet in and we’d really enjoy and have historical things in it.'”

For more: ‘Mother House’ of North Hollywood Waits Patiently For New Home (Patch)